Phase 4: Plan
Objectives
In Phase 4, the LCR Climate Action Plan will begin to take shape. To start, the team will synthesize the data and climate action opportunities from the earlier phases. Then, with an emphasis on integrative thinking, they will work to identify key actions, roles and responsibilities, timelines, and potential budget sources.
The process of developing the plan will help to build momentum for its implementation.
Milestones
This phase aligns with ICLEI Canada’s BARC Framework Milestone 3 and the Partners for Climate Protection's Milestone 3.
ACT Reports
- An LCR Decision Tool for Local Government
- LCR: Advancing the Co-benefits of Climate Action
- Climate Change Resilience for Buildings
- LCR Interventions: Case Studies at the Building, Neighbourhood, and Community Levels
- Accounting for Natural Assets in Local Government: an LCR Approach
- LCR Strategies and Indicators Tool (forthcoming)
- Workshop 4 will begin with presenting the preliminary actions and thematic areas collected and synthesized from Workshops 2 and 3. In small groups, the team will review the grouped actions and thematic areas to identify key gaps and/or required changes. Participants should be prompted to explore opportunities to align and/or integrate the actions in order to eliminate redundancy and streamline the plan. Finally, the groups will rank priority actions by using risk, emissions, co-benefits, cost, and feasibility criteria (see the example of Port Moody's criteria below). This prioritized list of actions will form the basis of the LCR Climate Action Plan.
- Use Workshop 4 to achieve the following outcomes:
- Synthesize and summarize the risk and emissions data as well as the climate actions that were identifed in earlier phases.
- Review the potential thematic areas and actions for gaps and/or required changes.
- Co-evaluate and prioritize actions for each thematic area, with consideration for timelines, responsibilities, indicators, and budget/funding sources.
- Prioritize and rank priority climate actions as a team.
- LCR Tip: Use the LCR Decision Tool to hone and prioritize actions based on criteria related to risk, emissions, co-benefits, cost, and feasibility. Look for interdependencies. For example, do any adaptation strategies (e.g., air conditioning) influence long-term emissions? Do any mitigation strategies (e.g., EV infrastructure) require a consideration of heat, flood, and extreme weather risks? In other words, what are the life cycle costs and benefits of the various solutions? How do they either increase or decrease equity? Who is benefitting from each solution?
- Keep the Momentum: If there is enough time in the workshop, dig a little deeper by asking the participants (in their small groups) to discuss roles and responsibilities for each action, build shared accountabilities for implementation, identify key indicators for measuring progress, and consider potential budget and/or funding sources. After the workshop, consolidate the data into a draft plan.
data_check 4.1 Step Check
- Complete Workshop 4, and compile a list of co-evaluated and prioritized climate actions across thematic areas. Where possible, determine a timeline, the responsible department, and any budget/funding sources.
- At this stage, all of the pieces from the previous steps will be synthesized to form the draft LCR Climate Action Plan. The draft plan should:
- Highlight the community's LCR vision and objectives for each thematic area;
- Summarize key risk and emissions data;
- Identify priority actions that need to be initiated in a specified timeframe (e.g., immediately, 2-5 years, 5+ years, etc.); and
- In each thematic section, highlight opportunities to advance co-benefits or other community priorities, and identify key indicators to track and measure progress.
- Keep the Momentum: Prior to Workshop 5, circulate the draft plan to stakeholders, key decision-makers, and the Climate Action Team. Ask them to review the plan and to pay particular attention to both the key roles and responsibilities as well as the budget/funding sources. Amend the draft plan, based on the feedback you receive, before hosting Workshop 5.
data_check 4.2 Step Check
- Develop a draft LCR Climate Action Plan, and send it to the Climate Action Team and other key actors for review.
- The main goal of Workshop 5 is to seek approval of the LCR Climate Action Plan. Before the workshop takes place, the plan should already have been amended to reflect the feedback that was received during Step 4.2. At the workshop, the Climate Action Team will review the final draft and develop a high-level plan for its implementation.
- Use Workshop 5 to achieve the following outcomes:
- Secure support and buy-in for the LCR Climate Action Plan.
- Co-create a high-level implementation plan.
- Co-determine key indicators for tracking and monitoring progress.
- Keep the Momentum: The information collected at this workshop will be used in Step 5.1 to develop an implementation strategy.
data_check 4.3 Step Check
- Complete Workshop 5, and secure the Climate Action Team's approval of the LCR Climate Action Plan.
- Once the Climate Action Team has approved the LCR Climate Action Plan, it will be submitted to Council (or another governing body) for review and formal adoption. This will be done by way of a resolution or a similar binding committment, following which the plan should be launched with an official press release. For a step-by-step guide about how to write the press release, see ICLEI's BARC Framework (2016).
data_check 4.4 Step Check
- Secure Council approval for the LCR Climate Action Plan, and launch the plan with an official press release.
Holistic Climate Goals in the Tsleil-Waututh Nation/səlilwətaɬ
The Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) began a resilience planning process in 2018. Based on their previous participation in ICABCCI, the Natural Resources Planning Manager used an LCR approach to integrate a community energy efficiency and GHG reduction plan into the resilience plan. To accomplish this, the Nation hired a single consulting firm to perform all of the steps in this process, including collecting emissions data and preparing the resilience plan. As a result, the consultants were encouraged to employ collaborative and integrative thinking.
The plan is framed by seven holistic goals:
- Reduce GHG emissions and the Nation's contribution to climate change.
- Protect and enhance the shoreline, including coastal and marine habitats.
- Increase the resilience of natural spaces and habitats in upland and forested areas.
- Manage climate change impacts on existing homes, buildings, and critical infrastructure.
- Set policies and frameworks for resilient future growth and development.
- Support community and cultural health to strengthen community resilience.
- Enable strong governance, and mobilize the community toward climate action.
The TWN Climate Change Resilience Plan ensures that climate risk, emissions, and both cultural and ecosystem health are interwoven into the Nation’s goals and implementation processes.